


Claims

by cloakoflife



Series: David Tennant Appreciation Week [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Mental Instability, Self-Harm, Unhealthy Relationships, so angsty it hurts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 06:41:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6555709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloakoflife/pseuds/cloakoflife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For DT appreciation week- Day 3: Favourite Heartbreaking Moment.  </p><p>Tentoo has been living a human life in Pete’s world for five years now. He has settled happily into the parallel universe but Rose isn’t finding it easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Claims

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This is not an easy-going fic. Trigger warnings for ANGST, self-harm, mental instability, unhealthy relationships, severe depression and cheating. Also, Rose being an unreasonable bitch. 
> 
> Lyrics: Frank Turner- Tell Tale Signs
> 
> Beta'd as ever by the wonderful Jennysintardis. Special thanks for this one as it was a real tough one to beta, I'm sorry for all the heartache hun!

 

 “Alright Doctor,” Mickey said, swanning into the Doctor’s office, Jake in tow. “How’s the new proton collider comin’ along?”

“Ah, Mickey the idiot, if I thought you’d even begin to understand I’d be delighted to explain it to you. But, reality being as it is, don’t you think your energy is best spent in your expert area of Field Logistics?” the Doctor teased his friend. Jake howled with laughter and Mickey poked him in the ribs, also grinning.

“Alright, alright!” Mickey put his hands up. “Just pretending to show an interest in my mate’s work, tha’s all!” The Doctor smiled warmly.

“I’m very grateful. Actually yeah, it’s going really well. We’ve almost finished, should be ready to present to the board by Tuesday, actually.”

“Wow, quick work. Torchwood has a lot to thank the Doctor for,” Jake said. “Y’know, the _other_ Doctor,” he added quickly.

“Well, I can’t take all the credit. Winifred had a lot to do with it, she’s got a _brilliant_ mind, the way her brain works… well, it gives me a run for my money,” the Doctor gushed. 

“Woah, hold on there! Does Rose need to keep an eye on young Dr Kent?” Mickey asked. The Doctor shot him a look. “Yeah, okay. Star-crossed lovers, written in the stars, destiny, the stuff of legends. I get it. Guess she doesn’t need to worry.”

“Speaking of Rose, shouldn’t you be getting going? Isn’t it date night tonight, Doctor?” Jake asked.

“Ooh, yeah best not keep our lovely Miss Tyler waitin’,” Mickey said, nudging him and winking. The Doctor smiled back at them.  

“Yeah, yeah of course not. Wouldn’t dare. I’ll be right out, just gotta, uh, file these…folder things,” he finished lamely.

“Okay well have fun tonight,” Mickey teased.

“Yeah, don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” said Jake. He paused for a moment. “Not that we’d… do the things you might do—err, that came out wrong, Me and Mickey aren’t like—”

“Come on Wordsworth,” Mickey said, shoving his mate out of the door and shaking his head despairingly at the Doctor.

The moment they were gone the Doctor let his smile falter, removed his glasses and ran his hands across his face.

_Date night._

He should have been thrilled. He was about to take the most beautiful, cleverest, funniest girl in this—or any other—universe on a date. The love of his life, the only woman he had any interest in spending the rest of this short human life with.

But the five years since his time lord counterpart had left them on a beach in Norway hadn’t exactly been plain sailing. The first eighteen months had been downright painful. Neither he nor Rose had felt entirely at home in this universe, or with each other. But, initially, they’d got through it together. They’d moved into a small house near the Tyler’s mansion together and spent a year and a half wrapped up in their own world, playing house, getting to know themselves and each other. They held each other as they cried over all they had lost. They reared chickens in the garden and travelled frequently, taking in all the sights this small corner of this small universe could offer them.

However, when part of Pete Tyler’s business empire collapsed, Rose and the Doctor were left to support themselves. It was time for them to emerge from their happy little bubble and face reality. Pete had found the Doctor a job in the lab at Torchwood, but Rose didn’t want to go back to work there. Instead, she took a menial office job in the centre of London.  The Doctor and her family couldn’t understand her decision and tried to talk her out of it, but she was adamant.

The next year had passed in reasonable calm. They worked, they came home and talked about their day. They ate chips, they cuddled and they made love. They still took frequent trips abroad and talked about _him_ a lot. The Doctor still held her while she cried, but, eventually, found his own tears were spent.

Then one day, the Doctor found himself singing in the shower. Not just singing, shouting, at the top of his lungs. He giggled at himself manically and a strange feeling flooded his heart. It took him a moment before he realised this feeling was joy. He was happy. Well and truly happy. He had a job he loved, a home, the best girlfriend in the universe. A family, friends. He was _content_ with what he had.

He quickly finished showering and wrapped a towel around his waist, running to find Rose in the kitchen to tell her about this brilliant breakthrough.

“Rose, Rose! Guess w—”

But as he burst in through the kitchen door, a smile spread across his face, he froze at the sight in front of him.

Rose was collapsed on the floor, a knife held limply in her hand at her side and blood oozing from a thin slice on her thigh.

“I’m sorry Doctor, I’m _so_ sorry. It just hurts, all the time.”

That’s when their problems began.

***  
_Well of course I’ve changed_  
With all the things I’ve done  
And the places I’ve been  
I’d be a machine  
If I’d have stayed the same.

**

“I know, I just… hoped we could go. I always wanted to see the Aurora Borealis an—“

“And you will, Rose. We’ll go. I promise we will. But I’ve got that presentation on Tuesday and I need to prepare. Who goes to Norway just for the weekend anyway?”

Rose turned to look at him with fire in her eyes and the Doctor tried not to roll his eyes. He’d just wanted a nice, normal meal with his sort-of-girlfriend-but-maybe-ex-girlfriend-who-really-knows and instead, it looked like he’d be getting yet another blazing row.

“Us! We used to.” She’s right. Back in the first year, when they were still in shock at being left in this universe, in one place; they’d travelled there all the time. Just to _check_. That had been before he’d accepted his new human form, before he’d settled into his job at Torchwood. Before he had friends and a home and a _life_ he loved.

“Exactly, we _used_ to. We can’t just go swanning off whenever we fancy it anymore. You need your job. I need this job.”

“Why?” she asked petulantly. The Doctor took a deep breath and tried to quell his rising frustration. He was sick to death of the same arguments. They were chasing their own tails.

“You know why, Rose. To appear normal, to pay the bills, to eat, to keep my apartment—“

“So why don’t you just move back in with me?” she argued. The Doctor’s remarkable thin human temper snapped.

“For God’s _sake_ Rose you _know_ why. We’ve talked about this, over and over again and you _agreed_ it made you _worse_ , it wasn’t work—“

“Oh, _whatever_! Just face it, you don’t want to be with me,” Rose shouted at him before turning to walk away from him. He grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Rose, you know it’s not that, just wai—“

“Get off me, _John_ ,” she spat at him. He snatched his hand back away from her as if bitten and looked into her eyes. He saw a spark of remorse, but mostly disappointment, pain and confusion. And—if he was truly, brutally honest with himself—perhaps a flickering of disgust.

 _***_  
You should be more to me by now  
Than just heartbreak in a short skirt  
***

A loud bang announced her arrival as she stormed into the living room of his apartment, startling the Doctor, who was in the kitchen doing the dishes, out of his reverie.

“Doctor?” she shouted. The Doctor couldn’t tell from her voice whether she’d calmed down at all and his voice sounded nervous as he called out in reply.

“In the kitchen, Rose.”

She rushed to the kitchen and stood in the doorway, waiting. He reluctantly brought his eyes up to meet her. She looked wild; messy hair, mascara running down her face. She’d clearly been drinking and her tights were laddered from her calf to the point where they met her short, pleated skirt. The sight of her dissolved his apprehension immediately and he caved.

“Oh Rose, come here,” he whispered. She rushed into his arms and he held her, squeezing tight.

“Doctor…” she gasped, sounding desperate. “Doctor I can’t. I just can’t.”

“Can’t _what_ Rose? Talk to me, please,” he begged.

“I… just can’t do this. Any of it. I hate it, I hate it all. Everything. I don’t want to be here,” she looked at him, pleadingly, imploring him to understand her. But he didn’t.

“Okay…I know that Rose, but it’s not like we have a choice. The walls of the universe are seal—”

“I don’t CARE about that,” she shouted, suddenly looking furious. “Why do you _always_ bring it back to that? I don’t want to be _here_.” The Doctor stared at her, hurt and confused.

“With… with me?” he asked. Rose screamed in frustration.

“Oh will you shut the fuck up for once in your stupid life?” she snarled and before he could react she grabbed his head and pulled him into a rough, bruising kiss. She immediately started tearing at his clothes, pulling at the sides of his shirt violently until buttons scattered across the room. He grabbed her hands, trying to still her and wrenched his lips from hers.

“Rose,” he gasped, “what on earth is going on? We need to talk about this…”

“Don’t wanna talk,” she growled, stepping back, staring him dead in the eyes and pulling her top over her head. It was at this point he realised she wasn’t wearing a bra. His eyes ran across her edible collarbone, her ample breasts and down the delicate curve of her stomach and he swallowed, his mouth suddenly painfully dry.  “Done talkin’ she muttered.” Then her lips were back on his, forceful and intent.

He was weak, he couldn’t resist her. Could never resist her. Despite the pain of the previous day and the inevitable agony of the next, he found himself drowning in her, nipping at her lips as her kiss elicited his arousal.  He caressed the silky skin of her lower back before wrapping his arms around her tightly and picking her up.  She moaned, wrapping her legs around his waist and responded by biting hard on his lip, the pain only stoking his desire. As he carried her through the living room to his bedroom, he bit hard on her shoulder. She practically mewled with delight and scraped her nails down his back, making him hiss.

He reached the bedroom and threw her carelessly onto the bed. In a flash, he crawled up her body and pinned her hands either side of her head.

“God _yes_ ,” she breathed heatedly.

 _No_ , thought the Doctor through the haze of his arousal. _No, no, no. This is all wrong._

He ran his hand through her long, blonde locks, then tightened his fingers into a fist, yanking her hair back and catching her gasp with a fierce kiss, quietening both of their demons.  

 _***_  
“You can’t just keep waltzing out of my life  
Leaving clothes on my bedroom floor  
Like nothing really matters, like pain doesn’t hurt  
***

He didn’t even bother to open his eyes. He just listened to the rustling as she pulled on her clothes and left his room. She didn’t even bother to be quiet. She slammed the apartment door behind her and stomped off down the stairs.

For the first time in years, he felt tears prickling at his eyes. He curled himself into a ball, cocooning himself in the duvet and cried.

 _***_  
“But you’re still back where we started  
You haven’t changed at all  
You’re still trying to live like a kid  
Like you can always have it all.”  
***

A week later, they were lying in her bed, post-coital, side by side but not touching. The space between them was minimal, but it felt insurmountable. The Doctor was relaxed and sated, slipping in and out of consciousness.

“I slept with someone else,” her words were level, even. Emotionless.

His eyes flew open and he whirled to face her.

“What?” he gasped, shocked. She had the decency to look upset, closing her eyes and covering her face with her arms.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I was drunk and pissed off at you and he was just there.”

The worst thing about it all was that if he was really honest with himself, the Doctor wasn’t surprised. In fact, he thought on some level, he already knew. It didn’t make it any easier, though.

“Who?” he asked.

“Does it matter?”

“Who did you _fuck_ , Rose,” he hissed.

“Danny Coleman.”

“The guy from accounting?”

“Yeah.”

“What the fuck Rose?!” he yelled, jumping out of the bed and pulling on his boxers. “You swore, you _swore_ to me there was nothing going on. You _promised_ you were just friends.”

Rose was crying hysterically now, sitting on the bed watching him dress.

“I know, I know and I swear it was true. It was an accident, you have to believe me. And it meant nothin’. I love y—“

“DON’T,” he shouted. “Don’t say it. Don’t lie to me.”

“It’s not a lie, Doctor,” she begged, crawling across the bed to him, still naked and looking utterly broken and vulnerable. “You know I love you.” She grabbed the open folds of his shirt in her fists and stared up at him. “Please don’t go. Please say we can work this out.”

He looked down into her tormented caramel eyes and then past them, to the scar on her thigh.

His beautiful, broken Rose.

“I…I don’t know Rose,” he sobbed. “I- I have to go.” He left the room, forcing himself to ignore the ear-splitting wail she let out as he went.

 _***_  
“It’s not even love any more,  
It’s just a claim upon my soul”  
***

He didn’t take the next day off work because it felt better to set his mind to something besides the suffering of his one, stupid, human heart. Winifred could tell that something was wrong with him and was making an effort to be extra sweet to him, fetching him cups of tea and his favourite chocolate hobnobs and telling him amusing tales of her time at NASA. He felt himself smiling despite his inner anguish.

“That’s better,” she said softly. “There’s the John I know and love.” She smiled warmly at him and suddenly his world felt out of kilter. In that moment, he wished, with all of his heart that he could just be John. He wished he could take Winifred by the arm, pull her close and kiss her. He wished he could forget all about the Doctor and Rose and become John and Winifred. He longed, with all that was left of his wrecked mortal heart, for the normality and ease he knew he would find in her arms.

He realised with a jolt, that he wasn’t even entirely sure he loved Rose anymore.

He coughed, awkwardly and the room rushed back into focus around him. They both blushed and Winifred excused herself from his office. The Doctor sighed. How _incredibly_ inconvenient. The last thing he needed was a silly little hormonally-charged crush to confuse matters even more. At the end of the day, Rose had followed him to the end of the world. She’d held his hand across all of time and space. She’d crashed through the walls of universes just to find him. Yes, she was currently making his life a living hell, but without her he wouldn’t have had a life to live. All that mattered right now was Rose and him and whether they could save whatever there was left between them.

The truth was she’d been suffering for years. Getting worse and worse and he couldn’t save her. All he’d ever done was stand by and watch her desperation escalate, helpless to intercept her downwards spiral.

That terrible day in the kitchen, all he’d been able to do was fetch a wet flannel and press it to her thigh to stem the bleeding, mumbling in her ear futile words of love and support. He’d never brought it up again, they’d never talked it through and he never asked her to get help. He’d just ignored it, praying she just needed time. She hadn’t hurt herself again, so he’d pushed it to the darkest recesses of his mind. But really, deep down, he knew he’d let her down.

Now, exhausted of lashing out at herself, he supposed, she’d finally turned her anger on him, hurting him in the harshest way possible. Bile rose in his throat at the thought of her with someone else.

However if there was one thing he believed in, one person he’d put his faith in, in this or any other universe, it was her. Yes, she’d broken his trust. She’d pushed him to the very limits of reason and sanity again and again over the last five years.  But, for better or worse he was hers. Now and forever, throughout all of time and space, he’d belong to her.

_Star-crossed lovers, written in the stars, destiny, stuff of legends._

And really, she was the _only_ person he wanted to spend the rest of this human life with. He knew he’d tire of anyone else, but Rose was special. She was _the one._

It had taken him a while, but he now _knew_ that this life, with all its mundanity and monotony, was a life worth living. More than that, it was a magnificent, glorious life. Every moment worth cherishing.

Now, he realised, he just needed to convince her of the same.

 

_You’ll always be a part_

_Of my Patched-up_

_Patchwork taped-up_

_Tape -deck heart_

 

 


End file.
